Shayetet 3
The Missile Ship Fleet, officially called Shayetet 3, is the main surface combat force of the Israeli Navy. The fleet was established in 1967 and includes 15 missile ships of the Saar 4.5, Saar 5 and Saar 6 models. In addition, the Ahi Bat Yam auxiliary ship is under its command. It is the only fleet of the Israeli Navy operating Surface vessels.
Roles
The cruise missions of the missile ships are derived from the mission of the Israeli Navy: "to give a safe coast and open navigation to Israel". In times of war, the Navy's duties are naval warfare against the enemy's fleets, assistance to the ground forces, shelling of installations and traffic routes on the enemy's coast, securing the shipping lanes to Israel and protecting the country's beaches.Except in times of war, the fleet is assigned various tasks: operations to gather intelligence, regular security patrols against hostile sabotage activity and preventing the supply of weapons to terrorist elements and providing backup to ground forces in operational operations. In the 2nd decade of the 21st century, with the establishment of the drilling arrays and gas production, drilling: Tamar, Leviathan and Tanin in the Mediterranean Sea, the navy's missions were expanded and they also include security of the state's assets at sea.
Fleet
Missile corvettes
Missile boats
Organisation
The fleet is divided into four combat squadrons.- Squadron 31 - Squadron of : INS Tarshish, INS Herev and INS Sufa, INS Hetz.
- Squadron 32 - Another squadron of : INS Kidon and INS Yaffo, Achi Keshet, INS Romach and the auxiliary ship INS Bat Yam 2, which is used for underwater detection.
- Squadron 33 - Corvette squadron of the : INS Lahav, INS Hanit and INS Eilat.
- Squadron 36 - Corvette squadron of the : INS Magen, INS Oz, INS Atzmaut and INS Nitzachon.
- Extra Auxiliary ship - An Auxiliary ship INS Bat Galim 3, was sold to the government company Israel Seas and Lakes Research in 2015, but the Navy retains the right to recruit for wartime service.
Command Structure
- GNK department - activates the detection and communication devices and creates a situational picture for the commander.
- Weapons department - operates and maintains the missile cannons.
- Electronics department - maintains the detection and communication devices and operates the electronic warfare means.
- Machine department - operates and maintains the engines and the electrical and hydraulic systems.
- Anti-submarine warfare - ships designed for anti-submarine warfare do not have a separate department. The means of detection are operated by the GNAK department and the means of armament are operated and maintained by the weapons department.
History
Establishment
On October 1, 1966, the first command structure of the fleet was established: Squadron 311. In the order of establishment, its mission was defined:- Fighting with missiles and cannons.
- Anti- submarine warfare
Cherbourg Project
The boats taken from Cherbourg were still unarmed platforms on their arrival in Israel. They were brought into the navy and armed with Gabriel missiles and ECM and EW systems produced by MABAT and RAFAEL. Their commissioning into the Israeli Navy was overseen by Commodore Yehoshua Lahav Schneidemesser, a Haganah member who had volunteered with the Royal Navy during the Second World War, and who was at the time the division head of Equipment and Platforms.
The flotilla's working up was overseen by Captain Hadar Kimhi, who was later promoted to commodore commanding the Naval base of Haifa. New concepts of sea missile warfare were developed by the navy and new ECM/EW techniques were developed with the leadership of Captain Herut Zemach who was awarded the Israel Defense Prize for his efforts, creating a new generation of missile boats. Later, new Israeli Sa'ar boats were developed and built in Haifa Shipyards under the leadership of Haim Schachal, the chief engineer of the Israel Shipyards.
Two of the boats were launched a few months before the Yom Kippur War, INS Reshef and INS Keshet, Sa'ar 4 class missile boats. For his leadership, Schachal was awarded the Israel Defense Prize.
Seizure of militant vessels
The fleet's ships assisted in security missions. In the course of 1970s decade, ships of the Flotilla captured four militant boats en route to Israel. The first capture of a boat happened on July 27, 1970. A "Hatz" Saar 3 model captured a boat with three militants on their way to the Gaza Strip, west of Rosh Carmel.Operation Hood 20
militants in Lebanon launched maritime rifs into Israel. On the night of January 14/15, 1971, paratroopers and the 13th Fleet were deployed for the first time by sea in Operation Hood 20, under the command of Haim Nadal - commander of the invading force, and Hadar Kimchi - commander of the naval force. The targets were found in Sarafand and Bas-Sheikh, south of Sidon on the coast of Lebanon. Six ships of the fleet, one "Hanit" under the command of Ephraim Ashed, four ships under the command of Shabtai. Levi - Achi "Hatz" under the command of Avraham ben Shoshan, Achi "Mishgav" under the command of Gadi ben Ze'ev, Achi "Mazanak" under the command of Avraham Ashur and Achi Haifa under the command of Eli Rahab carried the force of the paratroopers. After a security guard under the command of Rafi Apel, she carried the 13th Fleet force, which was under the command of Hanina Amishav. The raiding forces were led from the steels to the coast in rubber boats. Two naval sabotage bases and a land training base were attacked and destroyed.Battle of Latakia
The Battle of Latakia was a small but revolutionary naval action of the Yom Kippur War, fought on 7 October 1973 between Israel and Syria. It was the first naval battle in history to see combat between surface-to-surface missile-equipped missile boats and the use of electronic deception.Battle of Baltim
The Battle of Baltim was fought between the Israeli Navy and the Egyptian Navy on 8–9 October 1973, during the Yom Kippur War. It took place off the Nile delta, between Baltim and Damietta. The battle began when six Israeli Sa'ar-class missile boats heading toward Port Said were engaged by four Egyptian Osa-class missile boats coming from Alexandria. It lasted about forty minutes. The Osas fired Styx missiles, missed, and began to withdraw back to Alexandria when the Israelis began to give chase. Two Osas were sunk by Gabriel missiles within a span of ten minutes, and a third was sunk twenty-five minutes later. The fourth made it back to base.Second Battle of Latakia
The Second Battle of Latakia was a small naval battle of the Yom Kippur War fought on 11 October 1973 between Israel and Syria. The Israeli Navy force consisted of Sa'ar 2-class, Sa'ar 3-class, and Sa'ar 4-class missile boats armed with Gabriel anti-ship missiles while the Syrian Navy force consisted of Soviet-made Komar- and Osa-class missile boats armed with Soviet-manufactured P-15 Termit anti-ship missiles.Operation Litani
INS Yaffo, under the command of Lt. Col. Hanina Amishev, took an active partduring the 1978 South Lebanon conflict. In general, the ship fired about 1000 76 mm shells.